Winkler County Officials Indicted
Posted: Jan 13, 2011 6:40 PM CST
KERMIT - Two public officials and a former hospital administrator have been indicted by a Grand Jury for allegedly conspiring against two former nurses who made complaint about a Kermit doctor.
Winkler County Sheriff Robert Roberts, County Attorney Scott Tidwell and former Winkler County Hospital Administrator Stan Wiley all face two counts each of Misuse of Official Information, Retaliation of a Witness and Official Oppression.
This all come after several years of controversy at the Winkler County Hospital.
The two former nurses, Vickie Galle and Anne Mitchell were arrested back in 2009 and charged with sending confidential documents to state officials to report the practices of Dr. Rolando Arafiles. Mitchell was cleared of any wronging in court and charges were dropped against Galle. The two nurses then turned around and filed a civil suit against all the parties involved. The nurses claim Arafiles and the county officials conspired to stop their complaints.
Arafiles was arrested last month on the same charges. He bonded out of jail and is still working at the hospital.
County Attorney Scott Tidwell tells NewsWest9 he will likely turn himself in to authorities tomorrow morning. He also says he will be getting an attorney and fighting the charges.
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